“Sit.” Gary leaned forward, looking at Jason. “Are you playing some sort of game with me?” Gary glared at William.
Jason suddenly decided that he wanted to be anywhere but here. This was a mistake. He had been around men like Gary before and recognized the anger in his voice. The other two alongside him reminded Jason of the people that Reltash liked to surround himself with. Usually they were those who had some strength, and more than that, they were dangerous.
“It’s no game, Gary. Then again, if you want to play caral, I’m happy to do so.”
“Tell me about these dragons,” Gary said, looking up at Jason.
Jason took a deep breath, running his hands along the tabletop. It was worn, with what looked to be places where knives had been stabbed into it. “What do you want me to tell you?”
“Tell him what you told me,” William urged.
“What?”
William sighed and turned back to Gary. “He doesn’t want to say it, but he comes from a village that knows about dragons. They hunt them. He told me that they have great weapons designed to destroy them.”
Gary looked over at Jason. “Is that true?”
Something in William’s eyes suggested to him that the other man needed him to say it was true.
“My people have experience with dragons. We’ve been attacked by them. We’ve gotten to the point where we can protect ourselves against them.”
“Do you hunt them?”
“Not anymore.”
“Because they hunted them out,” William said.
Jason shook his head slightly.
William ignored him, turning back to Gary. “He even has a memento of the dragons.”
Gary looked up at Jason. “Do you?”
Jason sighed and pulled out the dragon pearl. If that was what this was about, then he failed to see what William was hoping to accomplish. If he was trying to convince Gary to let them into some sort of game, Jason didn’t know why.
“What is this?” Gary glanced from Jason to William.
“This is from a dragon,” William said knowingly.
Gary studied it, rolling it in his hand. “Feels as if he just pulled it out of his pocket.”
“It’s called a dragon pearl,” Jason said.
“Yeah? And how did you take this from a dragon?”
Jason’s mind began to race, trying to think through what Therin had said about the dragon pearl. They were valuable, he knew that, but where had he gotten it?
He didn’t even know. All he knew was that Therin had claimed the dragon gave the pearls up willingly, and because of that, he was able to use it in order to access great power.
Was there anything he could use to help convince Gary?
If William wanted to get Gary to let them play, this was going to have to be his bet. More than that, he needed to sell this dragon pearl as valuable. If he could do that, then he might procure enough money to buy the items he needed to return to the village. That had to be what William was after, though if that were the case, then why not just tell him?
Jason debated what to do but pulled out a seat, looking over at William before turning his attention to Gary. “The dragon has to give it to you,” Jason said. “And when it does, you can use it for incredible power.”
Gary rolled the stone in his hand, looking up at Jason. “What sort of power?”
“You can use it to control fire,” he said.
Gary grinned at him, and the two men on either side of him laughed.
Perhaps this was a mistake. He didn’t know enough about this man, and certainly didn’t know whether he was dangerous, though he suspected someone like him would be.
“Show me.”
“Show you what?” Jason asked.
“Show me how you control fire.”
“I…” He glanced over at William, who now had a sheen of sweat across his forehead.
This was a mistake.
Worse, it looked to Jason as if William now knew it.
Not only was this a mistake, but there was nothing he would be able to do with the dragon pearl that would convince Gary he could control fire.
What would happen when he was unable to do that?
“I can’t do it without the stone,” Jason said.
Gary handed it back, rolling it across the table. “Show me.” He set his hands on the table, leaning forward. There was an intensity in his eyes and his brow was furrowed.
The other two men took a step toward Jason. He picked up the dragon pearl, rolling it in his hand. He could feel the warmth, the slick surface of it, and tried to think of what Therin had said about reaching for that power. It was somewhere within him.
Even if it was, how was he going to be able to use it?
He didn’t know anything about how to summon the magic. All he knew was there was power within it. He’d seen that much from Therin, seen the way the other man had accessed it, and though he might want to summon that power, he didn’t have enough control or knowledge to do the same.
He stared at the dragon pearl, trying to will it to work.
One of the men standing on the other side of Gary started to laugh, and Gary shot him a silencing look.
Jason tried not to look up, not wanting to see anything about either of the men, not wanting to do anything. All he could think of was trying to figure out some way to make the dragon pearl glow with heat. He’d seen the way Therin had made the fires dance, and how he’d made the flames work without anything to burn.
What he needed was some way to do the same thing.
“He can’t do it,” one of the men rumbled.
His voice was deep, angry sounding, and it reminded Jason of Reltash.
He thought of all the times Reltash had picked on him since his father had been lost, and he tried to ignore that, but it filled him with irritation. He had to know better than to allow Reltash to harass him like that. Gary was much the same.
Jason could tell that about him without knowing anything else about Gary. He was a bully, and it seemed to Jason that William had been bullied by Gary. That had to be why he’d come here. He wanted to prove something to the other man.
Jason held the pearl in his hand, cupping it, holding it outward, trying to coax the flames from it, but there was nothing.
All he felt was the warmth within the dragon pearl.
It was not at all like what he’d sensed when he’d been with Therin.
Maybe Therin had been helping him more than he’d realized. It was possible the other man had made it seem as if Jason had control, that he was somehow able to reach for the power within the dragon pearl, and yet, now that he was without the other man, there was no one to get help from.
Gary turned his attention to William. “You tried to scam me again?”
“I’m not trying to do anything. I just thought that you would want to—”
Gary leaned forward, getting to his feet and looming over William. “I think it’s time for you and me to take a walk.”
“Gary. You know I wouldn’t—”
“I know what you would do. You’ve been here often enough, trying to convince us to let you participate, and yet, we also know what you have done.”
William started to shake and Jason got to his feet, shoving the dragon pearl out between the two. “This really is a dragon pearl. I’ve seen the power from it. I can’t as easily bring forth the power myself, but—”
Gary turned to him and nodded to one of the men near him.
He started toward Jason, who took a step back, but as he did, he held the dragon pearl out.
Heat began to burst from the dragon pearl and flames danced in his hand.
The other men stopped, and even Jason stood frozen, staring at the dragon pearl.
He had never held one it when it was burning like this, and surprisingly, it wasn’t burning his hand.
The other two men took a step away and Jason recovered, forcing his hand forward, making Gary look at him.
“Look. This is a dra
gon pearl.”
The other man turned his attention to the pearl, ignoring William for now. “How are you doing that?”
“I told you. It’s the power of the dragons.”
William let out a relieved sigh. “Now do you believe me?”
“I believe him. You are a different matter.”
Jason continued to hold the dragon pearl out, not sure what else to do with it. The fire danced in his hand, spinning around, almost as if it were something alive. It didn’t burn him, but it was a strange sensation as it floated in his hand like that, the flame somehow hovering right above the surface of his palm but not causing him any pain.
“I’ll trade you for it,” Jason said. If he had the ability to use it to create flames, he shouldn’t trade it, but what good would something like that be to him if he couldn’t return to his village? It was the only thing he had of value.
“You’ll do what?” Gary asked, turning to him.
Jason nodded, motioning to the pearl. “I’ll trade you. I’m happy to let you have it. All I need is—”
Gary slammed his hand underneath Jason’s and the pearl flipped out of his hand. The flames whipped out and the pearl landed on the table. The man stared at it for a moment before reaching for it.
When he did, he smiled. “It looks like I don’t need to trade for anything.”
He took it and stuffed it in his pocket.
“You don’t know how to use it,” William said.
“That’s fine. It seems like he does. So I don’t need you.”
He nodded to the two men. They grabbed William, dragging him out of the building. William shouted something, but Jason wasn’t able to make it out.
“Now comes the question of what I need to do with you.”
“That pearl is mine.”
Gary glanced down at his pocket for a moment before looking back up at Jason. “It seems like it’s mine now.”
“And if I start you on fire?”
Gary stared at him for a moment. “Seeing as how you seem to have a difficult time getting your flames to work in the first place, I very much doubt you have enough control over this stone to set me on fire.”
“Are you willing to risk it?” Jason asked, trying to sound as dangerous as he could. A man like Gary needed him to push back. “I need enough coin to buy supplies. That’s my price.”
“Your price for what?”
“My price to prevent me from incinerating you.”
The other two men suddenly appeared, and Gary glanced at them.
“My friends here might have something to say about that.”
“Maybe. But if they do, what’s to prevent me from acting before they have a chance to stop me?” Jason cocked an eye at Gary. “You want take that risk? I know you don’t believe I have the capability of lighting a fire quickly enough to cause any danger, but what if I do?”
He forced a dark smile.
Gary watched him for a long moment before grinning. “Nice try.”
He nodded to the other two men.
They grabbed Jason, lifting him.
Jason held his hand out and focused on the dragon pearl. He didn’t know what happened before, or whether he was even capable of making the same thing happen again, but at least he could try. He thought about what it had felt like when the pearl had been in his hand, the slick surface, the way the flames had danced above his palm, but he couldn’t come up with anything that would work.
Gary watched him and continued to grin.
“See? You don’t pose any threat to me.”
Jason breathed out a sigh.
They started dragging him away, and all of a sudden Gary screamed.
“Okay.”
Jason turned back and Gary slapped at his pocket.
Had he done that?
Maybe Therin had activated it somehow.
“My price.”
Gary glared at him. “What exactly is your price?”
Jason jerked his arms free of the two men. “It just went up.” He took a seat at the table, leaning forward toward Gary. “You can keep the dragon pearl, but now that you decided to try to steal it, its price doubled.”
“You never named a price.”
“Why don’t you give me what you think is appropriate, and then double it.”
Gary glared at him.
Jason shrugged. “Fine. Then I start you on fire.” He raised his hand and, having no idea whether or not it would work, he held it out.
Gary hurriedly reached into his pocket, grabbing for something.
Jason suppressed a smile as the other man lifted a faded brown leather pouch of coins and threw them across the table.
“That should be enough,” Gary said.
Jason lifted the pouch and shook it. The coins jingled inside. He had no idea how much was in there. He was tempted to pour it out and count it, but at least it was better than nothing.
More than that, he had to think it would be enough to get him some supplies.
Jason tipped his head to the side. “Don’t make me come back here. If you’ve cheated me, I can start that pearl on fire from anywhere.”
He got to his feet, stuffing the pouch into his pocket.
He started away and Gary called after him.
“Is it really what you say?”
Jason glanced over his shoulder. “It really is.”
Gary grinned.
Jason hurried out of the room and back out to the street.
He took a deep breath, looking around, and had just started one way when he heard a voice hiss from the other direction.
“Over here,” William said.
Jason hurried in his direction and joined the other man. They were ducked behind a building and William was looking along the street, toward the tavern.
“You were lucky to get out of there alive,” William said.
“No thanks to you.”
The man paled. “I’m sorry about that. I thought… Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter what I thought. Anyway, it’s good you got out of there.”
“It doesn’t seem as if he cares very much for you.”
“Gary? Nah. We’re great friends. He doesn’t know it.”
Jason chuckled. “What happened?”
“He claims I cheated when playing caral the last time, but he’s just mad that he’s terrible at it.”
“Do they hurt you?”
William shook his head. “They wouldn’t do anything to me. At least, not inside town. If they caught me outside of town, it would be a different story. Anyway, did you really make it burn like that?”
Jason could only shrug. He had no idea what happened, and had no idea how that was even possible, but it certainly seemed as if he had some control over it.
“I guess so,” he said.
“And you were willing to sell it to him?”
“I need to get back to my village.”
“I wouldn’t have sold it. I didn’t really think you could do what you said, and…” William grabbed him, pulling him back behind the building. He raised a finger to his lips, and pointed.
Jason poked his head around the corner just enough to see Gary and his two other men starting along the street.
Another man followed, and it took a moment for Jason to realize that it was Old Henry. The dark-furred man crashed into Gary, grunting at him, before continuing on down the street.
Gary glared at his back, and the two men with swords motioned to their weapons before Gary shook his head.
William pulled Jason back.
“I thought they were going to stab Old Henry. He might be annoying, but he don’t deserve that.”
Jason leaned back, resting on the wall.
“I think I have enough coin to get the supplies I need,” he said.
“Good. When we’re done, then we can stop someplace to eat.”
Jason nodded toward the tavern they had just come out of.
William wrinkled his nose. “Gods, no. I wouldn’t take you there. Now that you got
money, we’re going to eat something good.”
13
Jason gripped the package close. He had food—far more food than he’d had in a long time—and a spool of rope. There were other supplies, items he thought he might need on the climb back to the village, and yet he still hadn’t managed to get snowshoes which would help make the journey quicker. He could head upslope without them, but it would probably take him twice as long.
He’d have to find the rest of the supplies in another place. William wanted to eat, and with Jason’s stomach grumbling as it was, he couldn’t help but feel as if that were a good idea.
“Where are you going to have us go?” Jason asked.
“There are a few options.”
“I just need food,” Jason said.
“And I told you, I’m going to take you someplace where you can get what you need. I just think you have to decide what you’re in the mood for. Harkens has some of the best smoked meats, but”—he glanced down at Jason’s pocket, where the coin pouch was hidden—“he’s expensive. I don’t how much you have left, but…”
Jason had been careful about revealing to William how much coin he had remaining. He didn’t want the other man to try to snatch it.
“I have enough to feed me,” he said.
“Hey! Haven’t I been helpful?”
“A little bit. You almost got me killed, too.”
William shook his head. “Gary never would’ve killed you. At least, not in the village.”
“You said he wouldn’t kill you in town.”
“Fine. Gary would never kill me in town, but I doubt he’d do anything to you, either. He’s all talk.”
As soon as he had enough supplies, it would be time to start back. Strangely, the idea of heading back up the side of the mountain left him with a little bit of dread.
He needed to know how his mother and sister were doing, and he really did want to get back, but life here seemed so much easier than what life was like up in his village.
“What are the other options?” Jason asked.
“Well, now that you asked, there are a few places that have great cooking, and to be honest, the drink is just as good.” When Jason didn’t answer fast enough, William let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t tell me that you don’t enjoy a mug of ale every now and again?”
Ice Dragon: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Dragon Misfits Book 1) Page 12